Material distributing device



*MMI

July 7, 1959 Filed Jan. 5, 1955 R. GADDIS, JR

MATERIAL DISTRIBUTING DEVICE IN V EN TOR. Far 40D/.5', Jr.

July 7, 1959 R. GADDIS, JR

MATERIAL DISTRIBUTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR. Fd/ 6400/5, Jr W 465m? Filed Jan. 5, 1955 United States atent 2,893,740 I MATERIAL DISTRIBUTING DEVICE Roy Gaddis, -Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ass'iguo'r to Highway Equipment Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application January 5, 1955, Serial No. 479,941 4 Claims. (Cl. ITS-29 This invention relates to material distributing devices and particularly to a device of this nature arranged for the application of granular materials to a roadway or similar surface. I I

Many devices and mechanisms have been proposed and used in the past for the application or broadcasting of various materials over the surfaces of roadways, farmlands and the like. The material spreadingdevice with whichv this application is concerned is suitable or adaptable for use in many fields of endeavor such as highway or airport runway construction and maintenance, high, way ice control, distribution of fertilizer over farmlands and the. like. However, the description and showing of the device, as will be made hereinafter, will be more particularly in connection with one of the primary functions of the d'evicethat of highway ice control.

I A general object of this invention is the provision of an improved material distributing device.

A primary object of my invention is the provision of improved means for metering or controlling the flow of material fromadistributing device.

Another important object of my invention is the provision of a mechanism which will not only provide closer and more accurate control of material being distributed but which will apply the material in such manner as to result in substantial savings inthe amount of. material required to give. effective icecontrol. I

Still another and more specific object of the invention is the provision ofmechanism adapted to apply material to a roadway surface in a pattern of diagonal; stripes.

-A further object of my invention is the provisionof new and improved means for detachably mounting such a spreading device on the rear end of a dump-typevhicle as well as a simple andrelia'ble mechanism for'driving the distributor from the rear wheels of the'vehicle' at speeds synchronized therewith.v I

Other and further featuresandobjects'of'the invention will be more apparent tothose skilled in the art upon a consideration of'theaccompanying drawings andfollowing specification, wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the understanding, however, that such changes may be made therein-as fall within the scope of the appended claims, Without-depart= ing from the spirit of the invention.

Figure 1 is avieW- generally in rear elevation of a material spreading device constructed'iri accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention and mounted upon the rear end of a dump-type vehicle. The view also illustrates the manner in which material such as sand or chloride may be applied by the device 'to' a road surface for the-control of ice.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of device.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation of the opposite side of the device.

Figure 4 is a view in vertical cross section of thesame device.

Figured. is a view in longitudinal elevation :of the demy distributing 2,893,740 Patented July 7, 1959 vice with :portions of the forward wall broken away to better illustrate the structure particularly the distribution roll and its relationship to the distribution gate.

Figure 6 is an enlarged View in vertical cross section of the distribution roll and distribution gate.

Referring now to these drawings in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of which my sp'reading dev'ice has been illustrated as detachably mounted on the rear "end of a diimp -type truck indicated generally at 10 and having wheels 11', a chassis 12 and a dump box 13 pivotally mounted at 14 on the rear end of the chassis.

In general, the spreader comprises an elongated hopper indicated at 16 pivotally mounted, as 5:17, on the rear endof the vehicle chassis 12 and transversely thereof. A feed roll 18, rot-atabl-y mounted in the bottornportion of the hopper, is caused to rotate at a speed synchronized with that of the vehicle by meansof a friction wheel 19, The friction wheel is engaged to the feed roll 18 through a chain drive 21 and sprockets Z2 and 23 which are mounted on the axle 24 of the friction wheel and on the shaft 26 of the feed roll respectively. p I

Material, such as sand,- cinders or calcium chloride, commonly used for ice control on the highway, is dumped into the hopper 16 by hoisting" box hydraulically or otherwise. The material in the hopper drops onto the feed roll and is metered over the uppei surface thereof by means of a feed gate indicated gehefally at 217, The material then drops into a distribution chamber 28 fforri which it is discharged by the feed roll which is arranged to wipe or scrape the material off the edge of the distribution ate 29;

A more detailed descriptiono'f the structure follows.

The hopper 16 is of generally rectangularshape having. end walls 31 and 32 joinedtogther by d wnwardly converging front and rear wall panels 33 and 34 respectively. An inner front wall 36 terminates at its lower edge in a resilient sealing member 37 positioned in proximity to the upper surface of the feed roll 18. I A

The feed gate 27 ismounted on a t'raiisyerse'shaft 38 journalled in the end panels 31 and 32 and is adapt'edto be raised or lowered by means of an external operating handle 3 9, one handle preferably being provided'o'ri each end of the transverse shaft'38i Slotted adjusting straps 41 and clamping bolts 42 permit the gate to be locked i'n'any desired position. I II The resilient scraping or metering edge 43 of rubber or the like is positioned at a point above the feed roll and ahead of a vertical plane passing through'the axis of the feed roll. An upwardly extending portion44 of thefeed gate deflectsthe full load of the materialin the hopper from the gate and permitsthe gate to be adjusted up and down behind the baffle or canopy structure 46 which extends transversely across the rear of the'hop'per. Material passing between the feed roll-1:8 and the feed gate 27 falls into an arcuate shaped distribution chamber 2 8. This chamber isformed by the end'walls 31 and 32 of the hopper,- the rear face'ofthe feed roll and the curveddistributiongate 29 which is mounted for free pivotal movement about the shaft 38 to which tlie feed gate is also secured. I v

The distribution gate extends downwardly from the shaft 38" and forwardly beneath the feed roll to a point preferably somewhat beyond a vertical plane passing through the axis of the feed roll for reasons which-will be described hereinafter.

I The portion 47 of the distribution gate extending beneath the roll and nearest ,ther'eto' will be hereafter referred to as the discharge lip' and the gate is preferably bent downwardly at this point to provide rte-enforcement as well as to provide points of attachment for lengths of chain 48. The free ends of these chains" a" secured to eye bolts 49 slida'bly engagedinthe apeftuie'd ends of brackets 51 which extend forwardly and downwardly form the forward wall 33 of the hopper.

Compression springs 52 disposed on the eye bolts between the brackets 51 and the washers and nuts 53 and 54 respectively, resiliently urge the distribution gate into contact with the distribution roll.

The roll may be plain, corrugated or may have a serrated surface but, for the purpose to be herein described, it is preferable that a helicoidal rib 56, as best shown in Figures 4 and 5, be mounted on the surface of the roll in a single or double pitch spiral extending fromend to end.

The entire spreading mechanism is pivotally and detachably secured to brackets 57 bolted to the rear end of the chassis or frame 12 by means of the coupler pin 17 and bracket 58 which are secure to the forward wall of the hopper.

Struts 59 and 61, which are pivotally secured to brackets 62, also on the forward wall of the hopper, serve to mount the bearings 63 in which the friction drive wheels 19 and 20 and the axle 24 are mounted. The strut 61 is slotted as at 64 to permit adjustment of the friction wheels 19 and 20 relative to the rear vehicle wheels. from the hopper wall 33 are adapted to engage under the rear edge of the chassis to limit the downward movement of the [hopper to thereby support the device in its most elfective operating position.

It may be here noted that only one of the friction drive wheels (19) is actually aflixed to its supporting shaft 24.

A pair of chains 67, attached to the rear of the A pair of stops 66 extending forward v hopper at opposite ends thereof, are detachably and adjustably secured to the upper portion of the rear corner posts of the vehicle box. Connection is made by means of keyhole slots 68 in the corner posts and it may now be understood that these chains may be so adjusted as to lift the entire distn'butin device and therefore g terials such as chloride which are relatively expensive.

lift its drivewheels out of engagement with the vehicle wheels when the dump box is lowered into its normal position. However, with the chains properly adjusted, the weight of the hopper is not carried by the chains and the dump box until the box has been partially lowered. This eliminates the difficulties frequently encountered in lowering such boxes when distributing devices are actually hung from the rear end of the box itself.

Furthermore the vehicle box may be tilted through a wide range to assist discharge of material from the box into the hopper without affecting the position or operation of the distributing device.

Additional chains 74 (Figures 2 and 3) attached to the hopper, permit the entire spreader to be lifted by the vehicle box when it is desired to attach it to or detach it from its pivotal connection with the vehicle chassis. These chains are adjustably attached to the box by means of keyhole slots 76.

The operation of the device and its method of functioning in the control of ice on highways and streets will be more apparent from the following description.

The distributor is lowered into operating position as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 by lifting the truck box. This permits sand or chloride in the box to be discharged through the gate 69 in the rear wall thereof and into the hopper. The drive wheel 19 is, of course, engaged against the adjacent vehicle wheel 11 to furnish motive power to drive the feed roll 18 through the chain 21 and sprockets 22 and 23. Thus, the rotation of the feed roll will always be synchronized with the speed of the vehicle over the surface of the road. The diagonal striped pattern is thus achieved by driving the feed roll 18 relatively slowly compared with the forward speed of the vehicle. In the illustration given, as best seen in Fig. 2, the drive arrangement connecting the rear wheel 11 of truck 10 with feed roll 18 results in 74 in Figure 1.

a speed reduction so that feed roll 18 rotates more slowly than rear wheel 11.

It should be here noted that, although a heavily loaded hopper requires more power and therefore more traction to operate it than a lightly loaded hopper, a heavilly loaded hopper automatically applies the traction wheels to the vehicle wheels with more pressure to give the extra traction required.

Materialdropped into the hopper falls onto the feed roll 18 but is prevented from passing by the roll on one side by means of the inner front wall 36 and the resilient sealing member 37. Material is passed over the top surface of the feed roll and beneath the feed gate 27 only when the feed roll is rotating in the direction of the arrow (Figure 4).

The normal angle of repose of the material in the hopper is indicated by the dashed line at 71 in the enlarged section shown in Figure 6. It should be noted that themetering edge 43 of the feed gate 27 lies below this normal angle of repose so that the material can not -fiow of its own accord over the feed roll and into the distribution chamber 28 at any normal position of adjustment of the feed gate 27;

Material which is passed through the feed gate and dropped into the arcuate distribution chamber 28, falls to the bottom thereof. The discharge edge 47 of the distribution gate is positioned generally in line with a vertical plane passing through the axis of the feed roll :1 and the distribution, gate is generally tangent to the roll at that point. The normal angle of repose of material onthe distribution gate, when loaded to the discharge lip thereof, is indicated by the dashed line 72 in Figure 6. It will be noted that the adjacent portion of the feed roll is below this normal angle of repose of the material on the lip 47. This prevents the free flow or dribbling of fine granular material ofr the distribution gate. Instead, it must be scraped off by the feed roll and it is thus possible to meter more accurately ma- The helicoidal scraper rib 56 encircles the feed roll, as previously described, in a long spiral, preferably a single pitch spiral. Thus, the scraper rib 56 scrapes material olf the distribution gate in a stream which advances from one end of the gate to the other end as the vehicle moves the entire device over the surface of the road a definite distance. The resulting deposit of the material on the surface of the road is, therefore, in the form of a diagonal strip for each revolution of the feed roll. The ratio of the elements comprising the drive between the vehicle wheels and the feed roll therefore determines the angle of the strip of material relative to the path of the vehicle. The pattern of material laid down on the road may be modified by changing the pattern of the rib on the feed roll.

When desired, central portions of the feed roll may be shielded by a canopy as indicated at 73 in Figure 4 to produce on open center in the pattern as shown at In this pattern, approximately one-half only of the area over which the spreader passes is actually covered by the material being spread. An examination of this pattern will clarify the advantages the most important of which is the economical use of material. In the spreading of chloride on highway ice a minimum of material is required and it is common practice to apply such material on the up-hill side of a road only. When the ice covered by a strip of chloride has melted, the resulting brine flows down-hill or toward the right side of the road and, in either case, flows over the adjacent uncoated strip of ice.

Either chloride or sand, when applied to a roadway in this manner, will, eventually be distributed over the entire area by passing trafiic. However, it should be understood that a vehicle, passing over the pattern of wheel in contact with the sand or with a chloride treated strip as a protection against skidding sideways. In the case of dual-wheel vehicles, it should be noted that at least one tire of each dual wheel will at all times be in contact with a treated strip to increase traction and prevent skidding.

When lumpy material is encountered, it is rolled over and over and broken up by the action of the scraper bar 56 in the arcuate distribution chamber. Such lumps as do not break up are finally released when the pressure on the distribution gate overcomes the pressure of the springs 52. Normally, however, the lumpy material which is not broken up, is worked to one end of the hopper by the spiral scraper bar and discharged along the edge of the road as indicated at 76 in Figure 1.

A material spreading device, constructed in accordance with my invention as herein described, has many advantages among which are the following. The device permits close control over the distribution of material, particularly fine granular material, and practically eliminates dribbling of material when the spreader is not operating. It helps in breaking up lumpy material and tends to work unbroken lumps such as large cinders over to one end of the hopper where they are released generally out of the path of vehicles. The device permits the distribution of material in a pattern such as to effect considerable savings in the amounts of material required. The resulting savings are not only in the cost of material involved but in the fewer trips required of each vehicle to service a given number of miles of highway.

The application of ice control material to airport runways presents a somewhat difierent problem. Fine material, when spread over the surface of a runway in a light film, is usually blown off by the first plane. However, the same quantity of material, when spread two or three times as heavy but in strips, will actually stay on the runway much longer.

Another important advantage of my device lies in the simplicity and ease of mounting the spreader and in the absence of complicated driving mechanism for transferring power from the vehicle to the feed roll. Another advantage lies in the construction which, although mounted and adjusted by the lifting mechanism of the vehicle box, does not place the weight of the distributor on the rear end of the box while it is in fully extended position.

Although I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that modifications thereof may be made by those skilled in the art. Such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a truck type vehicle, an elongated hopper mounted on the rear end thereof, a longitudinally-extending feed roll rotatably mounted in the bottom of said hopper, means on said hopper for driving said feed roll, said driving means being eifective to rotate said feed roll relatively slowly compared with the forward speed of said vehicle to deposit material from said hopper in a pattern of diagonal stripes when said vehicle is advancing, a feed gate in said hopper adjustably positionable relative to the upper portion of said feed roll, and a longitudinally-extending, transversely arcuate distribution gate in said hopper with a lower portion of said distribution gate extending downwardly and beneath the feed roll to provide a discharge edge generally beneath the axis of the feed roll and in contact therewith, the discharge edge of the said distribution gate being resiliently connected to the longitudinal wall of the hopper opposite the said discharge gate, whereby the said discharge gate is urged against said roll, said roll being equipped with a scraper bar afiixed to the surface thereof and extending longitudinally and circumferentially thereof in a single pitch spiral.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which two spaced-apart, single pitch spiral scraper bars are provided on said roll.

3. In combination with a truck type vehicle, an elongated hopper mounted on the rear end thereof, a longitudinally-extending cylindrical feed roll rotatably mounted in the lower portion of said hopper and equipped with a scraper bar afiixed to the surface thereof, said bar extending longitudinally and circumferentially about said roll in a long, low pitch spiral, means for driving said feed roll, said driving means being efiective to rotate said feed roll relatively slowly compared with the forward speed of said vehicle to deposit material from said hopper in a pattern of diagonal stripes when said vehicle is advancing, a feed gate in said hopper adjustably positionable above the feed roll for controlling the depth of material permitted to pass between the roll and the feed gate, a longitudinally-extending, transversely arcuate distribution gate pivotally supported on an axis generally parallel with the distribution roll, a lower portion of the distribution gate extending downwardly and beneath the feed roll to provide a discharge edge beneath the axis of the feed roll, and means resiliently connecting the ends of said discharge edge to the longitudinal wall of said hopper opposite said distribution gate for urging the said discharge edge of the distribution gate into engagement with said feed roll.

4. In a material distributing device, the combination with a vehicle of an elongated hopper, a rotatable, cylindrical feed roll disposed in the lower portion thereof, means for driving the feed roll and the vehicle, said driving means rotating said feed roll relatively slowly compared with the forward speed of said vehicle to deposit material from said hopper in a pattern of diagonal stripes when said vehicle is advancing, a feed gate adjustably positioned above the feed roll for controlling the depth of material permitted to pass between the roll and the feed gate, a generally arcuate-shaped distribution gate with the lower portion thereof extending downwardly and beneath the feed roll to a position generally beneath the axis of the feed roll, the roll having a scraper bar aflixed to the surface thereof and extending longitudinally and circumferentially thereof in a single pitch spiral, and means resiliently urging the lower portion of the distributing gate into engagement with the feed roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,040,888 Comrie Oct. 8, 1912 1,715,325 Hayden May 28, 1929 1,829,652 Hill Oct. 27, 1931 2,159,554 George May 23, 1939 2,282,205 Olsen May 5, 1942 2,698,184 Bowen Dec. 28, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 207,899 Germany Mar. 11, 1909 503,711 Great Britain Apr. 13, 1939 

